Mariglen Verjoni Records First Collegiate Goal as Men's Soccer Earns 1-1 Draw With St. Thomas Aquinas
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 10, 2015) – Freshman Mariglen Verjoni (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) scored his first collegiate goal in the 72nd minute as the Mercy College men's soccer team earned a 1-1 tie with St. Thomas Aquinas College in East Coast Conference (ECC) action on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (4-7-1, 2-3-1 ECC) end a three-game losing streak with the tie and are now 3-1-1 at home, while the Spartans (3-7-1, 1-4-1 ECC) pick up their first tie of the season in their first overtime game this season.
Assisting on Mariglen Verjoni's goal was his brother sophomore Haxhi Verjoni (Cornwall, N.Y./Marlboro) who picked up his third assist of the year and had a shot on goal. Graduate student Junior Sanguina (Valhalla, N.Y./SUNY Purchase) and freshman Lucca Lacerda (Passos, Brazil/Monroe College) picked up Mercy's two other shots on goal and freshman goalkeeper Robert Retnauer (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) came in and played the second half and both overtimes to earn the decision in net.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Brian Kinsella who recorded a goal, while goalkeeper Sean Connolly made three saves to earn the decision in net for the Spartans.
In a contest that featured only six shots on goal between the two teams in 110 minutes, neither team would be able to find the back of the net in the first half as the Mavericks held a 6-3 edge in shots.
The beginning of the second half saw the action go back-and-forth with both teams firing shots, but neither team could put a shot on target and the score remained 0-0 heading into the 72nd minute.
However, that changed in the 72nd minute as Mariglen Verjoni headed in a cross from his brother Haxhi to give Mercy a 1-0 lead. Soon after the goal the Spartans earned a red card, forcing them to play a man down for the remainder of the contest.
The Mavericks looked to have the game in hand with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, but St. Thomas Aquinas found the equalizer in the 88th minute as Kinsella took a ball from Ivan Gomez and fired a shot outside the reach of Retnauer to make it 1-1.
The teams headed to overtime as neither side could score in the remaining two minutes of the contest.
Each team recorded a shot in the first overtime but neither team could break through and a second overtime period was needed. The second overtime saw Sanguina force Connolly to make a save late in the period, but the teams were unable to score and had to settle for a tie.
The Mavericks ended the afternoon with a 15-11 edge in shots, while the Spartans took seven corner kicks compared to six for Mercy.
Head Coach Chris Smith and the Mavericks will look to get in the win column as they travel to LIU Post on Saturday, October 17th for a 2:30 p.m. start time.
